Nikita Dragun Tries to Defend James Charles -- But Might Have Made Things Worse
The drama between social media influencers James Charles and Tati Westbrook just got more complicated.
Charles and Westbrook have been embroiled in a feud, which stemmed from Charles promoting one of Westbrook’s competitors in April.
Things blew up on Friday after Westbrook posted a 43-minute video claiming that Charles, 19, had sexually manipulated men while they were “still emerging into adulthood,” and that he had also spread lies about her and betrayed her after she spent years helping him with his brand.
While Charles counteracted with an apology video, he has since lost a huge chunk of his followers.
On Tuesday, Charles’ pal, Nikita Dragun, went to bat for the beauty influencer, sharing screenshots of text conversations between the two, which she hoped would show that Charles had not intentionally promoted Westbrook’s rival.
The messages appear to show Charles asking Dragun for help getting artist credentials for Coachella from SugarBearHair, so that he could escape getting “attacked” in the VIP area.
According to the screenshots, the company agreed and Dragun connected her contact with Charles.
heard a situation needed some clarification 👀 my friend was in an emergency and texted me in the moment... unfortunately since @dragunbeauty used all of our marketing budget on the 𝓯𝓪𝓷𝓽𝓪𝓼𝔂, i connected him with sugar bear. nothing shady. pic.twitter.com/fNNtMReApm
— Mama Dragun (@NikitaDragun) May 14, 2019
However, after Dragun made the text conversations public, YouTube channel Tea Spill pointed out that the discussions didn’t correlate with their own conversations with Charles about Coachella.
“Alright so... James texted Nikita asking if she could get him a SBH sponsorship but he told me that he was being mobbed and sugar bear reached out to HIM.. sister lied to me 💔,” Tea Spill tweeted, along with a screenshot of a text message allegedly sent to Tea Spill from Charles in which he states that SugarBearHair heard he was being mobbed in the VIP area and reached out to offer him an artist pass.
Alright so... James texted Nikita asking if she could get him a SBH sponsorship but he told me that he was being mobbed and sugar bear reached out to HIM.. sister lied to me 💔 pic.twitter.com/xQA962OzNM
— ᵗᵉᵃ spill (@TeaSpillYT) May 14, 2019
Tea Spill reportedly shared another screenshot in which Charles explained how SugarBearHair asked him to post an Instagram Story about their sleep vitamins (the product competing with Westbrook) in order to secure the passes he needed.
However, followers of the drama questioned the timestamps of the text messages, and whether they supported Charles’ side of the story.
Getting a response in under 2 minutes from a rep regarding a spare pass... And let’s not forget the fact that he had the pass on that morning in his snaps... I smell something funky
— Bel Hay-Hay (@BumblesBelle) May 14, 2019
So you read james’ texts, replied, texted SBH multiple times, got a response, and texted James back all with in 60 seconds 😕
— KRISTEA FEDAK (@KristeaFedak) May 14, 2019
Meanwhile, Westbrook posted a lengthy comment on Instagram, explaining that she had spoken publicly against Charles in pursuit of “change and healing,” not out of hate.
“If the roles were reversed and it was a famous straight guy using his power to emotionally manipulate young vulnerable women into bed and when they declined, took to Twitter to publicly shame them, everyone would be freaked,” she wrote in response to a user asking why she was “trying to ruin” Charles. “There shouldn’t be a double standard.”
“I’m speaking up for those who are too afraid to look uncool because they need boundaries when it comes to people commenting on their sexuality and physical self,” Westbrook continued. “I understand the gravity of these topics because of my age, wisdom gained through life experience and the sexual assault that’s a part of my history. This is not the way people should be treating each other.”
for those saying “this is too much” or “he’s just a kid” pic.twitter.com/OMUOP1DF08
— ᵗᵉᵃ spill (@TeaSpillYT) May 13, 2019
See more on the drama below.
RELATED CONTENT:
NEWS: Jeffree Star Appears to Take Down James Charles' Fashion Line Amid Feud With Tati Westbrook
NEWS: James Charles Fallout: Everyone Who Has Spoken Out Against Him
NEWS: James Charles' Biggest Scandals: Breaking Down a Month of Controversy
Related Articles: